Rail-joint



W. ZETELLA. RAIL JOINT. APPLICATEON FILED MAYS, I921.

Patentecl June 2 SHEEFS-SHEET l- UNITED STATES WILLIAM ZITELLA, 013ADAMSTON, WEST VIRGINIA.

BAIL-JOINT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 28, 1921.

Application filed May 3, 1921. Serial No. 466,436.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WlLLIAM ZI'IELLA, a citizen of the United States,residing at Adamston, in the county of Harrison and State of l/VestVirginia, have invented a. new and useful Rail-Joint, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to rail joints, one of its objects being toprovide rails having their ends so shaped that one end of one rail canbe forced downwardly into the other end of the opposed rail, there beingcooperating means upon the interfitting portions of the rails wherebythey are automatically locket together when placed in proper relation toeach other and cannot be separated without cutting rivets or similarholding devices used in connection with the rails.

Another object is to provide a rail having a forked end in which arelocated blocks carrying holding dogs, these blocks being held inposition by rivets or the like and being so arranged as to be straddledby the inserted end portion of another rail and which insertedportionwill engage the dogs and be held in position thereby.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the cone bination andarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being understood that, within the scope ofwhat is claimed, changes in the precise ei'ubodiment of the inventionshown can be made without departin g from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings ferred form of the invention has shown.

In said drawings- Figure l is a side elevation of portions of two railsand showing the inter-fitting ends thereof.

Fig. 2 is a section line 2-2, Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3, Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a section on line l-t, Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a section on line 5-5, Fig. 8.

Fi 6 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but showing a slightly modifiedconstruction.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference 1 designates aportion of a rail the web of which is thickened at one end as indicatedat 2 and provided with a longitudinal slot 3, the head of the rail beingcut away above this slot so as to provide a shoulder or al'iutment 4-beyond which the forked or slotthe prebeen ted web extends. Arrangedwithin the slot 3 at desired points are blocks 5 each of which ispreferably held in place by a series of rivets 6 extending transverselythrough the blocks and through the spaced sides of the web as shownparticularly in Fig. 2. These blocks extend from the top to the bottomof the slot and each of them is provided, in its opposed edges withrecesses 7. A dog 8 is pivotally mounted at its upper end within eachrecess as shown at 9 and a spring 10 is interposed between the lowerportion of each dog and the back wall of the recess, there being asocket 11 within the block in which the inner end portion of the springis seated. These springs serve to hold the lower ends of the dogsnormally pressed outwardly as shown in Fig. 3.

Another rail 12 adapted to be joined to the rail 1 has its base flanges13 cut away along the web at the end portion thereof, the thickness ofthe web being substantially equal to the width of the slot This web,which has been shown at 14:, has cut away portions 15 extendingthereinto from its lower edge and which are spaced apart and soproportioned that when the web 14: is pushed downwardly into the slot 3the blocks 5 will be received within said cut away portions and the headof the rail 12 will rest upon the spaced portions of the web 2 and willapproximately abut against the shoulder 4:. The walls of each of the cutaway portions 15 are provided with notches 16 so that when the web 114iis pressed downwardly into the slot 3 the dogs 8 will first be thrustback into the recesses 7 and will subsequently spring out into thenotches 16, thus holding the two rails secured together firmly so thatthey cannot be removed under ordinary oircumstances. As a matter of factthe only way in which the rails can be removed is by cutting the headsof the rivets 6 and forcing these rivets out of the blocks 5 after whichthe web 14 together with the blocks 5 can be pulled longitudinally frombetween the spaced side portions of the web 2. In order to reassemblethe parts it is first necessary to insert the blocks 5 in theirpositions and fasten them by means of rivets after which the rails canbe reassembled as heretofore explained.

Lateral enlargements 17 can be provided upon the sides of the rail 12 toprovide shoulders 18 adjacent to which the spaced sides of the web 2 canabut as shown. It

is to be understood of course that the base flanges oi": the rail 1 areextended along the slotted portions of the web 2 so as to come againstor in close proximity to the base flanges 13 of the rail 12 when the tworails are assembled.

' In Fig. .6 a slightly modified form of joint has been illustrated' Inthis structure the blocks 19 arranged in the slot in one end of therails are preferably tapered as shown and interposed between the blocksis a supplemental block 20. The blocks 19 are provided with dogs 21similar to those heretofore described and the tongue 22 which isinsertible downwardly into the slot is provided with cut away portions23 designed to receive the blocks 19 and another cut away portion 24designed to receive the block 20. Only the blocks 19 are provided withdogs, the block 20 merely serving as a centering and supporting means.In all other respects this modified structure is similar to thatheretofore described.

WVhat is claimed is r I 1. in a rail joint the combination with a railhaving a longitudinally slotted web, the head of the rail being removedabove said slotted web, of a block secured within the slot in the web,resiliently held dogs upon the block, a rail having a web insert- 'ibledownwardly into said slot, saidweb being provided with a space'for thereception of the block, there being means upon the walls of said spacefor engagement by the dogs;

2. In a rail joint the combination with a rail having a longitudinallyslotted web, the head ofthe rail being removed above said slottedportion of the web, of a block' within the slot, means extendingtransversely through the web and block for holding the block inposition, a rail having 'a web insertible downwardly into the slot,there being a space in said insertible web for the reception of theblock, and cooperating means upon the block and the walls or" said spacefor automaticallysecuring the webs together.

In a rail joint the combination with a rail having a longitudinallyslotted web, the head of the rail being removed above the slot, ofspaced blocks within the slotted web, means extending transverselythrough the web and blocks for holding the blocks in position, springpressed dogs mounted in opposite portions of each block, another railhaving a web' insertibie downwardly into the slot, said insertible webhaving spaces for the reception of the blocks, there being notcheswithin the walls of said spaces for the reception of the dogs thereby tohold the webs together when inserted one into the other.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto afiiXedmy signa ture in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM ZITELLA.

Witnesses GAETANO MAROZZI, VIRGIL ARENA.v

